2010 Australian Open-Williams Sisters In Third Round

The professional tennis tour kicks off with the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open. The 2010 edition began play in Melbourne on January 18, and my favorite tennis playing sisters are still in it to win it.

The Williams sisters are on the same side of the Women's singles draw and would meet in the semifinals if they keep kicking butt and taking names.

While the rest of the tennis world is buzzing over the return of Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, with some peeps hoping they start slowing down the Williams sisters Grand Slam tournaments juggernaut, defending Australian Open singles champ Serena and big sis Venus served notice that they are still women to be reckoned with.

Serena won her opening match of the tournament over Poland's Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 6-1 and only took an hour and 13 minutes to do it.

In her second round match versus Czech Petra Kvitova she took an hour and seven minutes to advance to the third round in a 6-2, 6-1 straight set victory.

Little Sis faces the woman who eliminated Big Sis from last year's Australian open tournament, Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro.

Speaking of Big Sis, Venus began her singles tournament play by quickly overpowering Czech Lucie Safarova in a straight set 6-2, 6-2 win.

Her second round match against Austrian Sybille Bammer was more of a struggle, but she prevailed 6-2,7-5 to advance to the third round against Aussie homegirl Casey Dellacqua.

The sisters are playing doubles in this 2010 Australian Open and are the defending Women's doubles champs. They won three of the four Grand Slam doubles titles during the 2009 season with only the French Open eluding them.

They opened defense of their Women's doubles title with a 6-1, 6-1 straight set victory over Australia's Sophie Ferguson and Jessica Moore. They face Ioana Olaru of Romania and Ukraine's Olga Savchuk in their second round doubles match.

The tournament concludes on January 31, and here's hoping my fave tennis playing sisters add a few more Grand Slam titles to their trophy cases this season.

Big Sis Taken To Limit In 2009 US Open Match

The 2009 US Open started yesterday in Flushing Meadows, NY and will be running until September 13.

You know I'll be watching as my favorite tennis playing siblings battle the women's tennis world and their haters to capture another major tennis title.

While number 2 seed and defending US Open champ Little Sis opened play by cruising to a straight set 6-4, 6-1 win over Alexa Glatch, Number 3 seeded Big Sis had a rougher time.

She's probably humming Destiny's Child's Survivor after spending 2 hours and 44 minutes outlasting Russia's Vera Dushevina 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In their careers, neither Venus or Serena has ever lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament. But Dushevina came extremely close to knocking out Big Sis.

Venus dropped the first set in a 7-5 tiebreaker. She led 5-3 in that tiebreaker until being rattled by a foot fault call that wiped out a great serve that would have given her a 6-3 lead. She also called an 8 minute injury timeout early in the first set at 2-1 to deal with her left knee in addition to struggling with her second serve.

She found herself down 5-4 in the second set just serving to stay in the match and fell behind love-15. The number 47 world ranked Dushevina found herself just three tantalizing points away from pulling off a major upset.

But as Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich once said, "Never underestimate the heart of a champion." Big Sis dug deep and won the next seven games to even the match and take control of the match by building a 4-0 third set lead enroute to winning the match.

If the Williams sisters continue their winning ways, they would unfortunately meet in the semifinals of this tournament. They are on the same side of the 2009 US Open women's singles draw.

The Williams sisters last won the US Open women's doubles championship in 1999, and are seeded fourth in this tournament.

Hopefully Big Sis gets the kinks out of her service game while playing some doubles. She had ten foot faults in that match, and there are concerns about whether her left knee will hold up from the pounding its going to take from the hard court surfaces at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center.

Stay tuned to find out if Little Sis makes it back to back US Open singles titles, if Big Sis finally wins a major and they capture their first US Open women's doubles championship in a decade.

Miss Universe 2007

photos-Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith, Miss Jamaica 2007 Zahra Redwood, Miss Tanzania 2007 Flaviana Matata, Miss Universe 1977 Janelle Commissiong, Miss Universe 1999 Mpule Kwelagobe

The 56th Miss Universe Pageant currently taking place in Mexico City will have some interesting stories transpiring during the live broadcasts Monday night on NBC and Telemundo.

Miss USA Rachel Smith is attempting to become not only the first Miss USA to win it since Hawaiian Brook Mahealani Lee did it in 1997, she's also attempting to become the first African-American winner of this pageant. Miss Jamaica Zahra Redwood will not only have her hair dreadlocked but is the first Rastafarian to represent Jamaica as a contestant. Miss Tanzania Flaviana Matata is competing with a shaved head.

They aren't the only women of African descent particpating in this year's pageant. Angola, Nigeria and Zambia sent delegates along with Tanzania. The US Virgin Islands has a delegate along with the Caribbean island nations of the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Aruba, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Lucia. The South American nation of Guyana is also among the 75 nations that sent delegates this year.

While they aren't the only women of color competing in this year's pageant, they all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Trinidad and Tobago's Janelle Commissiong in terms of getting the definition of beauty expanded beyond a Eurocentric model. On July 16, 1977 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Commissiong broke through to became the first woman of African heritage to win the Miss Universe title. Ironically Trinidad and Tobago doesn't have a delegate in the Miss Universe pageant for the first time in sixteen years. Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2006 Kenisha Thom lobbied businesses and the government in an unsucessful attempt to get the financial support needed to send a delegate to this year's pageant.

Women of African descent have been a competitive fixture in the Miss Universe and other pageants all over the globe. Since Janelle's groundbreaking win in the Dominican Republic, other women of African descent have won Miss Universe such as biracial Miss USA Chelsi Smith in 1995, Trinidad's Wendy Fitzwilliam in 1998 and Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana in 1999.


Latinas have also done well in the Miss Universe pageant with several queens coming from Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Panama, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Spain and Mexico. In fact, the next most successful nations/territories in the Miss Universe Pageant after the United States are Puerto Rico (5 titles) and Venezuela (4 titles) and a fierce rivalry has developed between them. Asian winners have come from Thailand, Japan, the Philippines, Israel, Lebanon and India. The winners from the African continent have come from South Africa and Namibia along with Botswana.

During this decade Latinas have dominated, winning consecutive titles in 2001, 2002, 2003 and last year's title. The 2002 winner, Justine Pasek moved up after Oksana Fedorova was dethroned. The current Miss Universe 2006, Zulekya Rivera from Puerto Rico will be crowning her successor.

Rachel will have some stiff competition, but she's got pageant history on her side. Since the pageant started in 1952 a Miss USA has failed to make the semifinals only three times (1976, 1999 and 2002). The 1957 Miss USA was disqualified because she was married. Miss USA delegates have won the pageant seven times, had eight first runners-up, six second runners-up, one third runner-up, three fourth runners-up, six finalists, and seventeen semi-finalists. Our Canadian neighbors have had two Miss Universe winners in 1982 and 2005.

I'll definitely be tuned in Monday night to see if Rachel Smith can make history. While I'll always cheer for Miss USA (and this year will be no different) I also root for the contestants from the Caribbean or Africa and women of color from around the world.

It's also more fun watching the Miss Universe pageant than reruns.

Tall Sistahs

TransGriot Note: Photo is of Sen. Barack Obama and his statuesque 5'11" wife Michelle. 

(List has been updated as of August 5, 2020)


In our society women are considered tall if they are 5'8' or taller. There's much debate as to how elastic that definition of 'tall' is. My personal belief is that if you're 5'7" or above you can consider yourself tall. Some people dispute my belief and state that tall status for women starts at 5'6".

One of my issues when I started transition was my height.
I used to believe the hype despite the abundant evidence that there weren't a lot of women my height (6'2") and I would get read like a cheap novel.

A few things happened that changed my outlook. The rise of 5'11" Tyra Banks as a supermodel at the time I was beginning my transition, Dr. Cole drilling it into my head during my gender counseling sessions over time that women come in ALL shapes and sizes, my own observations of the world around me and the startup of the WNBA in 1997. I began to look at it with a renewed sense of pride that I am over 6 feet tall and most of my under 5'7" sisters would love to be walking in my pumps.

My fears turned out to be unfounded. The ironic thing is that most peeps when they see me on the street ask me if I'm a fashion model or a WNBA ballplayer. ;)

To help those who may be going through a similar thing, this is a list that I have compiled of sistahs that are 5'7" or taller. While there are other lists of tall women on the Net, many of them either don't have or list few of our African-American stars, athletes or peeps of note.

This post will be one that I'll continually update. There are tall women of all ethnic backgrounds and I'll be putting that together in a separate post.

The Tall Sistahs List

5'7"

Halle Berry
Eve
India Arie
Vivica A. Fox
Sanaa Lathan
Sade
Jackee Harry
Tracee Ellis Ross
Florence Griffith-Joyner
Rosario Dawson
Dawnn Lewis
Beyonce Knowles
Dionne Warwick

5'8"

Aaliyah
Rihanna
Shari Headley
Ananda Lewis
Whitney Houston
Gabrielle Union
Jill Marie Jones
Pam Grier
Chudney Ross (Diana Ross' daughter and Tracee Eillis Ross' baby sis)
Maritza Correia (US women's team swimmer)
Zahra Redwood (2007 Miss Jamaica)

5'8 1/2”
Jennifer Beals

5'9"

Michael Michele
Mariah Carey
Ciara
Iman
Kelis
Kim Coles
Mo’Nique
Beverly Johnson
Toccara Jones
Garcelle Beauvais
Lela Rochon
Valarie Pettiford
Yoanna Henry (2007 Miss St. Lucia)
Renata Christian (2007 Miss US Virgin Islands)
Shakara Ledard 5'9 1/2" (supermodel)
Crystle Stewart (2008 Miss USA)

5'10"

Jayne Kennedy
Naomi Campbell
Serena Williams
Cynthia Cooper
Laila Ali
Queen Latifah
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Robin Roberts
Kenya Moore
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth
K.D. (Karen Denise) Aubert
Lisa Fischer (Luther Vandross backup singer)
Naomi Sims
Micaela Reis (2007 Miss Angola)
Meleesea Payne (2007 Miss Guyana)
Flaviana Matata (2007 Miss Tanzania)
Gayle King
NeNe Leakes
Zendaya

5'10 1/2"
Veronica Webb
Grace Jones
Leila Lopes (Miss Universe 2011)

5'11"

Tyra Banks
Grace Jones
Nikki McCray
Alek Wek
Marion Jones
Marsha Warfield
Michelle Obama
Anne Marie Johnson
Rachel Smith (2007 Miss USA)
Rosemary Chileshe (2007 Miss Zambia)
Sydney Tamiia Poitier
Lauren Green (FOX Noise anchor)

5’11 1/2”
Wendy Williams

6 feet

Phyllis Hyman
Aisha Tyler
Faye Wattleton (former head Planned Parenthood)
Sheryl Swoopes
Nona Gaye
Macy Gray
Kimora Lee Simmons
Maya Angelou
Stagecoach Mary Fields
Jamaica Kincaid
Octavia Butler
Carole Gist (first African-American Miss USA)
Yolanda Adams
Jewel Garner (2007 Miss Barbados)
Ainett Stephens
Jordin Sparks
Diahann Carroll

6'1"

Wendy Fitzwilliam (1998 Miss Universe)
Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever)
Swin Cash (Seattle Storm)
Jade Johnson (British long-jumper)

6'1 1/2"
Venus Williams

6'2"

Tamara Dobson (from the Cleopatra Jones movie)
Tina Thompson (Houston Comets)
Rev. Paula McGee (Twin sis of Pamela McGee and USC b-ball great)
Pamela McGee (Twin sis of Paula McGee and retired WNBA baller)
Oluchi Onweagba (Nigerian-born supermodel)
Flo Hyman (former US Olympic volleyballer)
Chamique Holdsclaw (LA Sparks)
Tari Phillips (former Houston Comet)
Tamika Whitmore (Indiana Fever)
Katherine 'Kat' Smith  (author, blogger and model) 

6'3"

Cheryl Miller
Mistie Williams (former Houston Comets center and daughter of Chubby Checker)
Cheryl Ford (WNBA player and daughter of NBA hall of famer Karl Malone)
Astou Ndiaye-Diatta (WNBA player)
DeMya Walker (WNBA player)
Kim Glass (USA volleyball)

6'4"

Carolyn Peck (ESPN analyst)
Candace Parker (LA Sparks)
Monique Ambers (WNBA assistant coach)
Tangela Smith
Tammy Sutton-Brown 

6'5"

Lisa Leslie-Lockwood (Olympian and retired LA Sparks center)
Monica Lamb (former Houston Comets center )
Michelle Snow (former Houston Comets center)

6'6"
Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky)
Kara Braxton
Chantelle Anderson (retired WNBA player)

Florence Griffith-Joyner

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

"We were dazzled by her speed, humbled by her talent, and captivated by her style."
-- Former President Bill Clinton

I remember the first time I saw Florence Delorez Griffith-Joyner. She was stepping into the starting blocks for her 200 meter finals race during the 1984 LA Olympic Games. One of my friends remarked about the sistah with the long nails, "Damn, she's fine."

"That she is." I remarked. "But can she run?"

She answered my rhetorical question by winning a silver medal during those games. From that day forward I began to keep up with the exploits of Florence Griffith-Joyner or as the world later affectionately called her, FloJo.

FloJo revolutionized the way we looked at female athletes. The legendary 1960 Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph said about her, "For a long time, we've been thought of as 'jocks.' Florence brings in the glamour. She walks out on the track like she owns it."

She definitely owned it in 1988. Her world record times of 10.49 seconds in the 100 meters at the US Olympic trials in Indianapolis and her 21.34 time in the 200 meters set during the 1988 Seoul Olympics have yet to be broken. She also walked away from Seoul with three golds and a silver.

She was not just a world class athlete wrapped in a beautifully stylish package. Florence was a devoted wife and mother, fashion designer, actress, sportscaster and writer. She was appointed co-chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports during the Clinton administration and served until her passing.

She was born on December 21, 1959 and grew up in the LA projects in a home that stressed the values of independence and individualty. The straight-A student started running at age seven and was a star athlete by the time she hit adolescence.

She had some tough times before she became the legend we revere to this day. She graduated from Jordan High School in 1978 and attended Cal State-Northridge. When she couldn't afford to return for her sophomore year she worked at a bank until a young Cal State-Northridge track coach by the name of Bobby Kersee helped her to apply for financial aid.

She followed him to UCLA in 1980 when he became the assistant track coach there and in 1982 became the NCAA 200 meter champion. After winning the silver medal at the LA Games behind teammate Valerie Brisco-Hooks she drifted away from track for a while and gained weight until a chewing out by Kersee got her back into the game.

She picked up something else besides gold and silver medals at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, the affections of 1984 Olympic triple jump champion Al Joyner. They got married a month after the conclusion of the World Championships and became proud parents of a daughter in 1990. FloJo died from suffocation during an epileptic seizure on September 21, 1998 a few months short of her 39th birthday.

Although FloJo's time with us was brief, then U.S Olympic Committee president Bill Hybl stated, "She was a role model for girls and young women in sports. She will be remembered among America's greatest Olympians, and she will be recalled with the legends, like Wilma Rudolph and Babe Didrikson Zaharias."

She will indeed.

Phyllis Hyman

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-trans women who have qualities that I admire.

What can I say about the 'Sophisticated Lady'?

Before she tragically took her own life several hours before a show at New York's Apollo Theater in 1995, she was an Broadway actress, model and singer who I and many of her fans felt didn't really get recognized for her talents like her contemporary peers.

Unfortunately, while she was making that music I and many of her fans loved so much, she was dealing with personal issues. Just like her, I spent most of the 80's fighting a major personal issue and connected with her in that regard.

I'll never forget the first time I heard 'You Know How To Love Me' on the radio. I was in high school at the time and a big Mtume fan. I recognized his producing style and wanted to hear more of her music. When I finally got that album a few weeks later and saw that beautiful statuesque sistah in the high fashion clothes, I was hooked.

I loved Phyllis' voice and versatility. In addition to her R&B and jazz chops she even did some rapping on the song 'Don't Wanna Change The World'. I enjoyed seeing her cameo appearance in Spike's second movie School Daze.

I remember awaiting the release of what turned out to be her last CD, I Refuse To Be Lonely. I listened to the title song and I found it quite ironic that she was singing a song about her determination to defiantly move on with her life and it had so tragically ended.

Phyllis was another example to me that tall sistahs do exist and she was a beautiful one at that. It's just too bad that she didn't see the beauty inside her that me and legions of her fans did.

Tyra Banks

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

"Black women have always been these vixens, these animalistic erotic women. Why can't we just be the sexy American girl next door?" -Tyra Banks, on her status as a sex symbol.

Tyra Lynn Banks exploded into prominence in the modeling world about the same time I was beginning to transition. Not only was this sista tall at 5'11", this Inglewood, CA girl is intelligent, down to earth and drop dead gorgeous to boot.

Unless you're Naomi Campbell, what's not to like about Tyra?

I admire her for representing us in the fashion area. She was the first African-American woman to be featured on the covers of GQ magazine, the Victoria's Secret catalog, and Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. After picking up a copy of her book Tyra's Beauty Inside and Out, I realized just how special she really is and in a sense how close her life was to mine.
(no she's not a t-girl, but she did play one once on an episode of UPN's 'All of Us')

Here was a skinny kid who blossomed into a stunningly sexy woman. She's made the People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list twice. She decided to become a model and was turned down by four agencies before she signed with Elite at age 17 a few weeks before she was to begin her freshman year at Loyola Marymount College.

I liked the fact that she wasn't the stereotypical model. She has curves. She's proclaimed her love of fast food, ribs and chicken wings. She's quick to point out that most of what you see in her pictures is the result of makeup tricks and the revelation on her talk show that drag queens taught her how to do her makeup.

She's done movies and had a recurring role on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She produces America's Next Top Model and since retiring from the modeling business does her own talk show. She gives back to our community, is a determined driven lady and a wonderful role model.

Even for a Phenomenal Transwoman like myself. ;)

Jayne Kennedy

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

When I was struggling with my gender issues in the late 70's. I was lamenting the last minute teen growth spurt that pushed my height over six feet. I was mumbling to myself that 'real women aren't this tall.'

Enter 5 foot 10 inch Jayne Kennedy. She was the first sistah to win the Miss Ohio title in 1970. In the Miss USA Pageant that year she was one of the ten semifinalists for the crown. She was a Jet Beauty pinup and made a few movies with her then-hubby Leon Isaac Kennedy before landing the job that would change the way that NFL pregame shows were done.

Not long after she was hired to do CBS NFL pregame show 'The NFL Today' in 1978, we had the honor of having Jayne visit my high school during my senior year in February 1980. I was already a big fan of hers prior to this trip and her performance on the NFL Today not only opened doors for her but for a host of other women sportscasters such as Robin Roberts and Pam Oliver at FOX.

Jayne has since gotten remarried, become a born again Christian and is a devoted mother. She's still as gorgeous as ever. She's one of the women that helped me see the point that Dr. Collier Cole drove home to me when I was first beginning my transition.

Women come in all shapes and sizes.

Come On Out to the Ballgame

From an August 2004 TransGriot Column
Copyright 2004, THE LETTER
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One of the things that amuses me about the trans community is the lengths that we'll go to reject anything thought of as 'masculine' (unless you are a female to male transsexual). I'll get strange looks whenever I'm around some of my transgendered friends and start talking sports with a genetic male or another T-sports fan. The other people in that group will roll their eyes and inevitably come back with a lame comment such as 'I hate sports' or 'women aren't sports fans'.

Women aren't sports fans? Please. My former coworker Lucy Schroeder rivals my intensity in terms of being a sports fan. My mom loves the NFL, and my late grandmother Tama faithfully tuned in to Astros games. My late friend Glenda Baker used to give me a run for my money when we fired sports trivia questions at each other. If you take a trip to any stadium, NASCAR track or arena you'll discover that sometimes the most rabid fans are women. I'd see women screaming louder at the refs over bad calls than their boyfriends, sons or husbands.

I usually can't wait for the NFL and college football seasons to start. Admit it, some of you feel the same way, too. Liking football is part of a Texan's DNA just as a person born in Indiana or Kentucky gets misty eyed about basketball. I'm a college basketball fan, and don't get me started about March Madness. I love it except when they show repeats of a certain slam dunk from the 1983 NCAA Championship game with my beloved Cougars that makes me sick to my stomach.

I embraced the WNBA when it began play in 1997. I'm an NBA fan but hate the corporate crowds that treat going to the game like attending a golf tournament. The WNBA's affordable ticket prices allow Joe and Jane Fan to see a pro ball game with the best women players in the world. The other interesting aspect of the league is the number of GLBT people that attend games. The league estimates that ten percent of its season ticket base is GLBT.

I can confirm that. I had Houston Comets season tickets for several years until I moved to Da Ville and make a trip to Indy every summer to see my girls play.
There's a post op girl from my old gender group that had her season tickets in the same section as mine ten rows up from my seats. A lesbian couple sat on the row immediately in front of me, and another one sat behind me. I saw GLBT folks when I walked the Compaq Center concourses. We were joined by mothers and sons, fathers and daughters and entire families. We were united in our love for the Comets and our dislike of the Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. You also had the sense of history unfolding in front of you.

Watching those games helped me get over the height hangup I had when I started transition. I couldn't gripe about being 6'2" after seeing Tina Thompson on the court. There are even taller women in the league such as the LA Sparks 6'5" Lisa Leslie and 7'2" Margo Dydek of the San Antonio Silver Stars. I discovered that many WNBA players have double digit shoe sizes such as Sheryl Swoopes and Washington's (now LA Spark) Chamique Holdsclaw. I don't complain as much when I'm hunting for fashionable shoes. I'm in good company.

It's time for us transgendered sports fans to come out of the closet. There are numerous ways to express femininity and being a sports fan doesn't detract from that. Whatever your favorite sport was growing up, enjoy and embrace it. It's okay to let your inner sports fan out.

Oops, gotta go. Sportscenter's on.